26 April 2011

I am back, much sooner than you may have anticipated. I would like to begin this posting with one of my favorite holidays...Halloween. Design...revisiting? Yes, thrift store all the way to find those items to perfect the costume. If you remember Halloween 2009, I also sought out the thrift store for my Little Edie costume. This year, we decided to go as famous artists. I was able to live out one of my fantasies, to go as Frida Kahlo my favorite artist.

Now, back to the vintage thrifting...I do enjoy a few places in Chicago that are a bit out of my price range, but are still fun nonetheless to visit. Here are a few of those vintage items that I would love love love to add to my house.

Love this Bertoia chair...not sure if I am fond of the black legs. I'll check back to see if it's still available.

Kinda love the sparkly fruit in a guilty pleasure sort of way...what would I do with it is the real question?

And these mugs, not terribly expensive, but a bit inappropriate...in a good way, however.

This sofa is lovely, so is the sign behind. I am looking for something to finish out the wall behind my bed. My father has some wood that would be perfect for this project.

I thought that I would end this posting with one of my favorite vintage finds...

I was perusing a random site and saw this vintage 1980s Louis Vuitton duffle. I had to have it and obsessed over it until it was mine. And each day that I use it, I fall more and more in love with it. Is this a problem?

I hope that you are curious what Winter 2010 will bring. Come back and often!

25 April 2011

I want to interrupt my fall posting with this...so Libby one of the duo from The Vintage Bazaar sent out an email requesting for shoppers of TVB to share purchased items for their site leading up to the next TVB. Of course, I wanted to share. I shared these photos with her:

And today, as I visited the site, I discovered this. Wow and wow. Now, of course I called my friends (Maura), as if I had been selected for some tremendous prize (which I kind of did). Could the day get any better, oh yes it could. As I sat watching Bethenny Ever After and perusing my favorite design websites I discovered this perfection. Not only did my photographs and story end up on one of my favorite sites, it also is appearing on one of my other favorite sites. Holy Hell! And...they mentioned this blog.

I may not sleep tonight...please come back in a bit for my fall posting.

23 April 2011

Well, friends, I have returned. Where have I been? Nowhere really. I needed a break from my blogging, not that I was very consistent at it by any means. I just felt uninspired and lazy. Many of you (2 or 3) asked me to get back to my postings. So, I am doing this for you. Thank you.

I have no idea where I left off, so let's start from somewhere new. I am slowly changing things in my house. It is definitely a slower process than I would have imagined. I am amassing vintage and thrifted treasures that I want to share with you. So, let's begin somewhere...

Perhaps it's easiest if I begin by seasons. I will attempt to put these photographs and descriptions in an accurate time line. Let's start with Summer 2010.

Summer 2010

One of the first things I wanted to do was get a bike. I have lived in Chicago long enough not to fear the cars as much, so off to get a bike. I found a great bike at Target brought it home, got buyers' remorse and returned it before riding it. I had doubt about the purchase, as I was becoming a hard-core vintage/thrift shopper, and paying money for something new seemed to go against everything I was beginning to stand for. So, the bike was quickly returned, hence no photograph.

I began researching where in Chicago I could purchase a used bike. I found Working Bikes online and went to check it out. I liked that they repaired old bikes, as well as donated the profits and other bikes to various countries. So, I came home with this fun bike:

I began riding it immediately and often. I convinced Josh & Ji Hye that they too needed vintage bikes, so...

I soon realized that all other bikes were passing me by. I hated being so slow compared to everyone else, plus the bike had only three gears. Not that I needed more or even knew what to do with more than three, but I was beginning to think that I needed a newer bike. So much for staying true to vintage.

Again, more research was required, as well as recommendations from friends which led me to Kozy's Cyclery. I found my dream bike...

I rode this bike everywhere and all summer long, including once to work...what was I thinking? I love my new bike. I outfitted it with back baskets, a horn, as well as security. Josh and I rode a 25 mile bike-a-thon benefiting Ji Hye's organization, as well. I was sad to hang it up for the winter.

Perhaps I should pause here...so far nothing I have been discussing has dealt with design, well I need to fill you in on a few things that inspired me and caused my return, so perhaps this post does have to do with design.

I decided to dabble a bit in selling thrifted items on Craigslist. My favorite part is the find & then writing the ad. So, here are a few items I sold...

I also tried my hand at recreating the well-known light fixture...can you guess at my failed attempt what fixture I was after?

Well, school was almost about to begin and I needed a vacation. So, off to New York. Here are a few things that I did and saw (that do have to do with design)...

I really enjoy these reclaimed driftwood tables.

Oh, and I do love the Bertoia chairs outside of MoMA.

Of course I had to visit the Statue of Liberty.

I normally don't enjoy graffiti, but there was something about this one that I really enjoyed.

This was so beautiful, too bad we couldn't climb it.

More beautiful graffiti...

I saw these chairs on Man Shops Globe, then saw them where they were being sold.

Well, I think that gives a good explanation as to what I did this past summer. I have much more to talk about for each season that I have been absent. The photographs are sorted by season, so please come back to see what happened to me in Fall.